Every settlement of decent size has a bawdy house of some kind, and even smaller areas have that one tavern where a few of the local girls make some extra coin here and there. To make such places into a Holding is a bold move, however, and one that can cause one’s more moral-istic (or perhaps jealous) neighbors to react with distaste.
resource GAin Bonus: Wealth +2. However, all Influ-ence Resource decreases due to a House Fortunes roll are increased by 1.
Improvements
The following improvements are available for Brothel Holdings.
pleAsure Houses: +5 Wealth; 2d6+6 months; requires a Community of at least Large Town in size. Some brothels are more than places where women willing to exchange a tum-ble for coin are gathered. Some are places of absolute deca-dent pleasure, given over to the best of all pleasures, with fine food and drink, sumptuous surroundings, the finest and most refined of courtesans, and that most valuable of all commodities: discretion. Resource Gain Bonus: Influence +1.
new rule: The Influence Resource decrease rule is negated.
GAMBLING DENS SETTLEMENT tiMe: 1d6 months investMent: 5 Wealth requireMent: Large Town or larger Community The money flows freely in the places where gambling fes-ters, and most lords go out of their way to root such things out. Others, however, allow them to go on, in return for a cut of the take. While there is ample wealth to be had from such an investment, it can also mean an erosion of the force of law in one’s own lands—criminals and scoff-laws are attracted to such Holdings, after all.
resource GAin Bonus: Power +1, Wealth +1. However, all Law Resource decreases due to a House Fortunes roll are increased by 1.
Improvements
The following improvements are available for Gambling Den Holdings.
Bloodsports: +5 Wealth; 1d6 months. Games of dice, card, and tile are enough for many gamblers. But some want a
little more: the uncertainty of violence is in their blood, and these Improvements exist to sate their bloodlust and part them from their coin. This Improvement gives access to a fair number of rough fighters. Unit Bonus: Raising a Peasant Levy is reduced in cost by 2 Power.
HousesoF cHAnce: +5 Wealth; 2d6 months. The rich and noble are just as inclined to games of chance as commoners, but the sinks that most gamblers create for themselves are far too crass for most gentle patrons to be seen in. Houses of Chance, however, specialize in lavish, discreet surround-ings, with plenty of good food, drink, and pretty wenches to admire one’s gambling cunning or commiserate over bad luck suffered. Such places are known for their discre-tion, as well. Resource Gain Bonus: Influence +1, Wealth +1
GAOL SETTLEMENT tiMe: 24+2d5 months requireMent: None
investMent: 5 Power, 10 Wealth
Corporal punishment is the most common form of pun-ishment in most domains due to the lack of means to hold prisoners, thus requiring justice to be swift. A jail allows a lord to punish criminals without permanently limiting
Settlement Wealth Holdings
their ability to work and allows the lord to better manage his population of prisoners. Jails include a basic staff of guards, though lords wishing more personnel could look into Magistrates or Bailiffs. This is not just a set of dun-geons beneath a keep, but a whole building set apart.
unit Bonus: Reduce cost of Criminal or Garrison units by 2.
new rule: When taking the Manage Resources House Action, add Law to the list of Resources that Population may be traded for. The jail itself functions as a Hall when under attack under the Warfare rules.
Improvements
The following improvements are available for Jail Hold-ings.
inescApABle*: +10 Wealth; 24+2d6 months. Your jail is out-fitted with the latest in locks, double doors, and may be built in a remote location like an island or cliff. Escap-ing from the jail is extremely difficult and so far has not happened. Other houses even send their most important prisoners to you to hold. Resource Gain Bonus: Influence +1, Law +1
JAilors*: +10 Wealth; 2d6 months. Your jail is equipped with a unit of experienced jailors. new rule: In a time of war, the jailors act as a Trained Garrison. They also gain +1 to Awareness and Cunning.
HEALING SITE SETTLEMENT tiMe: 12+1d6 months requireMent: None
investMent: 10 Wealth
Be it a spring, healing stone, or holy relic, your House has some item of interest that draws travelers from far and wide to benefit from its healing power. Whether there is any actual healing power to be had is up for debate, but the coins brought by these hopefuls are quite real.
House Fortunes roll: +1.
resource GAin Bonus: Population +1, Wealth +1 Improvements
The following improvements are available for Healing Site Holdings.
ActuAl HeAlinG ArtiFAct*: +5 Wealth; can only be pur-chased when the Healing Site is purpur-chased. The healing arti-fact of your House does have actual healing powers. new rule: Any who touch it gain +1B to Endurance for natu-ral healing checks for the next month.
Holy or wArded Grounds*: +10 Wealth; can only be purchased when the Healing Site is purchased. Your House’s healing site is blessed and wards off evil. new rule: Any-one in its vicinity gains +1D to Will to resist magical or supernatural effects and beings of supernatural evil cannot enter the site.
MARKETPLACE SETTLEMENT tiMe: 2d6 months investMent: 10 Wealth requireMent: Small Town or larger Community The Community is home to a central market, drawing merchants and smallfolk from miles around to take ad-vantage of opportunities to both buy and sell their wares.
resource GAin Bonus: Wealth +1
new rule: The Resource Gain Bonus granted by this Holding is increased by +1 for each Estate Wealth Hold-ing and Artisan Personage HoldHold-ing in the Domain with the marketplace.
Improvements
The following improvements are available for Marketplace Holdings. Unlike most Improvements, Trade Connections and Trade Routes can both be purchased in the same Mar-ketplace.
speciAlty MArket*: +5 Wealth; 1d6 months; requires at least one Estate Wealth Holding in the domain. The port has facilities for locals to sell their wares in, providing a con-stant stream of goods of very high quality to the commu-nity. Resource Loss Mitigation: Population +1.
trAde connections*: +5 Wealth; 1d3 months; requires both domains have Roads. A marketplace’s benefits are based on the domain in which it is located. Strong trade connections with other domains controlled by the home House can in-crease the potential rewards. Purchase of this Improvement
“connects” the Marketplace with another neighboring Do-main. The neighboring Domain must belong to the House itself, or to a vassal House. new rule: For the purpose of
Settlement Wealth Holdings
the Marketplace’s Resource Gain Bonus benefit, the Estate Wealth Holdings and Artisan Personage Holdings of the connected domain are considered to be in the domain with the Marketplace. A Small Town may have up to two Trade Connections, and large Communities may have up to five.
trAde routes*: +5 Wealth; 2d6 months; requires a successful Complex Intrigue and a loss of 2 Influence per Route. Allies among the Houses may establish links with one another for mutual benefit. This functions as the Trade Connec-tions Improvement, save that the connected domains need not belong to the House with the marketplace. It requires a Complex Intrigue (with a number of Victory Points equal to the total Holdings the domain would contribute to the trade, +1) and a payment of 2 Influence should the allied House agree. New Rules: Each time the House gains Wealth from their Marketplace benefits, one of those points must go to the allied House (making it only beneficial if the al-lied domain provides at least +2 Wealth bonus). The Trade Route agreement can be broken as a House Action, and costs the House breaking it 1d6 Influence for doing so. If the Trade Route agreement is broken, the House with the marketplace regains the 5 Wealth invested in it.
MILITARY ACADEMY SETTLEMENT tiMe: 20 + 3d6 months requireMent: Power 21+
investMent: 5 Power, 10 Wealth
Military academies are rare institutions where the training of soldiers is more developed than a few weeks being run ragged by the captain of the guard. Instead soldiers are instructed in a regimented training curriculum including not just forma-tion and weapon usage, but tactics, strategy, logistics, etc. The common soldier doesn’t get to experience the whole of this education, but still benefits from the extra training his officers receive. A House with a military academy has an easier time producing experienced units and keeping the quality of units high despite casualties and replacements.
new rule: When taking the Manage Resources House Action, the House may convert Wealth to Power at a 1:1.
Additionally, units that lose abilities due to damage suf-fered in Warfare reduce the amount lost by 1.
Improvements
The following improvements are available for Military Academy Holdings.
BroAd trAininG*: +5 Wealth; 6+1d6 months. The academy teaches a wide variety of training, allowing units to de-velop strengths they normally would not. new rule: As a House Action, a fourth ability may be added to a unit’s available abilities.
core trAininG*: +10 Wealth; 6+1d6 months. The acad-emy has an intense training regimen that all students go through, including the rank and file soldiers of the House.
new rule: Choose one ability; all units of the House re-ceive a +1 bonus to that ability.
MINSTREL’S SEAT SETTLEMENT tiMe: 2d6 months investMent: 10 Wealth requireMent: Small Castle or larger Defense Holding, or Small Town or larger Community Some houses cultivate a reputation as patrons of the arts—
or simply as those who enjoy merriment and celebration.
Such places always bring minstrels, mummers, and jon-gleurs of all manner in a never-ending cavalcade of enter-tainers. News and gossip inevitably accompany such folk as well.
Settlement Wealth Holdings
new rule: For every 3 points of any House Resource that is gained from House Fortune rolls, the House also gains a point of Influence. However, whenever Wealth is lost as a result of a House Fortune roll, that amount is increased by 1.
Additionally, someone of the House may go among the performers and ask for information about other places.
This is resolved through a Status test, with a Difficulty based on how secret the information is, and how far away those who it regards are located.
Improvements
The following improvements are available for Minstrel’s Seat Holdings.
BArdic colleGe: +5 Wealth; 3d6 months. Not only is the Community or Defense Holding a favored destination for many performers, but enough of them have settled into the area that others come seeking them for training. Resource Gain Bonus: Influence +1
MuMMer’s HAll: +5 Wealth; 2d6 months; requires a Small Town or larger Community. Such success has come to the performers that some among them have pooled their earnings and established a mummer’s hall—one of the rare palaces of entertainment. Such locales offer a central stage with nightly performances by all manner of entertainers, from puppet shows and mummer sto-ries to minstrel performances and bawdy dancing girls.
The hall also serves strong drink and good food. new rule: The Wealth penalty associated with this Holding is negated.
speAkers & listeners*: +3 Wealth; 2d6 months. Rather than simply passively seeking among those who know things, the House cultivates this body of performers and entertainers as active informants. new rule: This is treat-ed as the Connections Benefit for one area. For each 2 additional Wealth invested in this Improvement, the Con-nections covers an additional area.
PORT SETTLEMENT tiMe: 2d6+6 months investMent: 10 Wealth
requireMent: Small Town or larger Community, and River, Coast, or Island.
The Community has a fully functioning port along the river or coast that it is on. It has facilities for ships to berth,
and inevitably develops the sort of establishments that ca-ter to visiting sailors: taverns, brothels, and the like.
House Fortunes roll Bonus: +2 Improvements
The following improvements are available for Ports.
trAder’s wAreHouses*: +5 Wealth; 1d6 months. The port has ample warehousing and other storage and security fa-cilities for the shipping of goods. Such an amenity is sure to draw extra wealth to the area. Resource Gain Bonus:
Wealth +1. Resource Loss Mitigation: Wealth +1.
drydocks*: +5 Wealth; 2d6+6 months. Part of the port’s fa-cilities include extensive dry docks for the quick and easy repair of ships. These places also attract experienced sailors and marines looking for work. new rule: Any Warships possessed by the House may negate up to two points of pen-alties on the Units & Casupen-alties portion of Step Eleven in Warfare.
SALVAGE OPERATION SETTLEMENT tiMe: 2d6 months investMent: 5 Wealth
requireMent: Coast, River, Island, or Lake Shipwrecks along the coast of the holding can result in valu-able goods washing up along the shore that can be salvaged.
House Fortunes roll Bonus: +1 Improvements
The following improvements are available.
wreckers: +3 Wealth, 1d6+12 months; must have Law of 31 or less. The holding includes a group of people that de-liberately light fires in order to lure ships onto the rocks.
Resource Gain Bonus: Wealth +1; this ceases to function if the House’s Law rises above 31.
SEWER SETTLEMENT tiMe: 12+2d6 months investMent: 10 Wealth requireMent: Small Town or larger Community In most settlements little concern is given to sanitation, as refuse is thrown wherever one happens to aim their bucket.
A wise lord plans for better ways to deal with the waste of
Settlement Wealth Holdings
his people, like building sewers and other measures to keep filth away from drinking water, food stores, and common areas. Such efforts help stave off disease and other threats of urban living.
resource GAin Bonus: Population +2 resource loss MitiGAtion: Population +1
new rule: Reduce any penalties to House Fortunes rolls due to high Population by 2.
Improvements
The following improvements are available for Sewer Holdings.
secret tunnels: +5 Wealth; 1d6 months. When the sew-ers are built your enginesew-ers also constructed secret tunnels that run parallel to the sewers, allowing you to navigate underneath your settlement without being seen. You pos-sess the only keys and maps to these tunnels and can use them to come and go unnoticed in your settlement.
SLAVE MARKET SETTLEMENT tiMe:
12+1d6 months. requireMent: Marketplace holding investMent: 10 Wealth
While not exactly a well-respected business, the slave trade can be very handy when a House needs extra hands for the fields or has a few too many mouths to feed come winter time. Assuming such actions are legal, the slave trade can provide extra coin while also helping the House deal with manpower issues, assuming the slaves don’t take matters into their own hands. If the slave trade is not legal and a House builds a slave market, they are likely to face serious consequences if their liege lord finds out.
new rule: By taking the Manage Resources House Ac-tion, the House may convert Wealth to Population or Pow-er, and Population or Power to Wealth at a 1:1 conversion.
Improvements
The following improvements are available for Slave Mar-ket Holdings.
skilled slAve stock*: +5 Wealth; 1d6 months. Your slave market specializes in highly skilled individuals instead of common rank-and-file laborers. Other Holding Discount: You can reduce the cost of any Personage Wealth holding by 2.
penAl slAvery*: +5 Wealth; 1d6 months. Your House makes a regular practice of selling criminals into slavery.
new rule: Gain +1 Law when your Wealth increases by House Fortunes rolls.
soldier slAves*: +5 Wealth; 1d6 months. While your House likely ransoms the more valuable captives it takes in war, it sells any common soldiers captured into slavery.
new rule: If your House destroys another house’s unit in battle and wins the battle, it gains 1 Wealth from selling off the survivors. If your House captures an entire unit, like tricking it into surrendering before battle is joined, it may sell it into slavery, gaining Wealth equal to the Power of the unit.
TEMPLE SETTLEMENT tiMe: 3d6+12 months investMent: 10 Wealth
requireMent: Community of at least Small Town size.
A grand building dedicated to the worship of the gods, the temple is staffed by minor clergy and lay priests. If a com-munity does not have a Priest Personage Wealth Holding, the temple probably hosts wandering clergy who make the
Settlement Wealth Holdings
community part of their regular circuit, showing up a few times a year to perform weddings and give sacraments.
House Fortunes roll Bonus: +1
resource GAin Bonus: Law +1, Population +1 TOLLS
tiMe:
1d6 months requireMent:
Road or River investMent: 5 Wealth
The holdings include a bridge, ferry, or mountain pass where travelers along a road must stop and pay a toll before proceeding. In addition to generating income, the toll pro-motes law and order by monitoring and regulating travel along the road. Tolls are not subject to the normal limita-tions of Settlement Holdings, as they are not “attached” to Defensive or Community Holdings.
resource GAin Bonus: Law +1, Wealth +1
TOURNAMENT FIELD SETTLEMENT tiMe: 6 months requireMent: None
investMent: 1 Land, 5 Wealth
Most houses use whatever fields are convenient when they wish to throw a tournament, often trampling some local farmer’s crops flat to make room. The seating and struc-tures for such tournaments are temporary affairs and rarely of high quality. Houses that regularly throw tournaments instead build permanent fields reserved for such activi-ties along with the attendant structures, allowing them to easily throw magnificent tournaments year-round. These tournament fields often do double duty as fairgrounds, ar-chery ranges, or training fields.
otHer HoldinG discount: Reduce cost of Festival Wealth Holding by 2; Reduce cost of Tourney Master Per-sonage Holding by 2.
new rule: The cost of throwing a tournament is reduced by 1 Wealth, which is cumulative with the cost reduction from a tournament master.
Improvements
The following improvements are available for Tournament Field Holdings.
MArket dAys*: +5 Wealth; 1d6 months. When the House throws a tournament it draws merchants and traders for leagues around to take advantage of all the space the tour-nament field affords. new rule: When the House uses a House Action to throw a tournament it gains a +3 bonus to its House Fortunes roll that month.
coMpetition culture*: +10 Wealth; 1d6 months, requires Tournament Master. The House has worked to cultivate a reputation for being the home of real tournament com-petition in the nation. All the best knights come to the House’s tournaments to compete and a good showing here can make a knight’s career. new rule: The Influence gained from throwing a tournament is increased by +3.
TRADING INN SETTLEMENT tiMe: 1d6+6 months requireMent: Road or River
investMent: 10 Wealth
Also called a caravanserai across the Narrow Sea, the Trading Inn is a somewhat fortified location with plenty of space for merchant caravans and trading wagons pass-ing through. It includes an inn with extensive common rooms space for employees and guards, along with sump-tuous personal quarters for richer merchants and nobles, and plenty of space for the storage of goods in transit.
Trading Inns are usually located away from Commu-nities and Defense Holdings, often at crossroads where
Trading Inns are usually located away from Commu-nities and Defense Holdings, often at crossroads where